Support for open Kitchen wall required?

lothiaMarch 5, 2013

Hello,
I am quite a newbie at this whole kitchen design/home owning and handyman concept. I have been actively lurking this site for about a month and was luckily introduced to ikeafans through it when I thought Ikea would be the best option for my kitchen (now I am looking at customs as some people have gotten them very close in price).
I have two questions that I am hoping can be answered as I am at a loss and donÃ¢ÂÂt even know where to turn to for the answer.

1) I have a basic kitchen cabinet construction question
2) What type of professionals would be best to ask/consult about what changes I can make for kitchen?

To explain my first question: I currently have a 9Ã¢ÂÂx8Ã¢ÂÂ U-shaped cabinet which I have included a photo of a rendering from Ikea (this shows the size and appliances but edited cabinets). In that image I have a red circle, this is a 40Ã¢ÂÂ tall 7Ã¢ÂÂ wide Ã¢ÂÂwallÃ¢ÂÂ behind my cabinets that holds a bar that goes into my open living room. My plans involve removing this to give me a solid slab counter that I can create a normal height bar. I want to remove this bar completely so I can push my counters 7Ã¢ÂÂ out but I donÃ¢ÂÂt know if that is even possible. My question is, for open kitchen sections do they need to be attached to some type of 2x4 for support or would I be able to remove it fully to gain space?
The other part of the question is that I know my sink plumbing goes through this, could I instead of having it, just shorten a drawer and have it sneak behind that?
For my second question: You will see a yellow circle, it appears to be a support wall but from what I have heard from a contractor (for a different job) it is most likely the water pipes for the vertical condo units in my area. I donÃ¢ÂÂt know who I would hire to confirm this type of information as well as the type of question I had asked earlier. Would these type of questions be asked for a general contractor, a designer or some other person? Also my project is so small I am not looking at hiring a GC for it so are there alternatives?

Thank you so much for any help provided, I know this message seems convoluted as I wasnÃ¢ÂÂt exactly sure what kind of information is required or the terminology to ask it.

Let me see if I understand this - you want to remove that short wall behind the sink so you have a continuous surface over the cabinets and bar?

If there was no wall, then the cabinets would form an island. Kitchen islands have been created with Ikea and other cabinets.

Can you remove the short wall? First you have to open that wall to see what services are in there. Might be pipes, almost certainly electricity for outlets. Do you feel comfortable moving pipes and wiring? Code requires outlets every linear 4 ft of counter, so you would need at least one outlet on either side of the sink.

If you just shortened the wall to permit a counter over it, perhaps you would not have to move the services at all. You would still create an island. One outlet could be on the yellow circled area. There are solutions for other outlets on a kitchen island.

Thanks for the response,
I actually want to remove the wall completely to give myself extra space in the kitchen. Reducing the height doesn't seem like much of an issue except there one electrical outlet I'd have to remove.
My goal is to use some of that 7" for to widen the kitchen by 3-6" so that the cabinets on the sides of the stove can change from 12" cabinets to 15" cabinets.
To remove the entire wall I would have to mess with plumbing a bit, the sink and I assume dishwasher's plumbing go through it, my thought was to shorten a cabinet drawer and all them to pass right behind it.

However I did not know about the electrical outlet every 4' to stay up to code. If I can change the 7" back wall to be just 4" and hold piping and electrical and change the 5" siding to be just 2" then I would gain the minimum space needed. Again I don't actually know who to contact to assist in this type of information. Do people who do it themselves talk to friends or usually hire GC's? Is there a consultant type that is available ever?

Thanks again for the response.

Edit: Sorry if I just shortened the wall why would I be creating an island still? I believe it would be a peninsula, that open spot in the corner is where no cabinets exist but countertops would exist and a blind corner would be there or just support.